Fustrated by my Doctors.

[lifeofbrian]

So I go to my GP today. For the past few weeks I feel so awful at night. Wake up with a horrid feeling in my chest, up two nights ago with heartburn. Palpitations last night when I sleep on my right side. The palpitations and/or rough chest/heartburn seem to come after eating sweet things or exercising the day before, so maybe I've over tired my heart a little after so much inactivity, squeezed some acid up, or I am very sensitive to sugar. My anxiety has improved a lot over the past few weeks and I have not had a panic attack for the same time.

All I got from my GP was, "it's anxiety", But I've been much less anxious I said, "I don't think you have" said my GP.

Not only can my GP's look inside me and tell me things like, "you definitely have acid reflux" and from another GP, "you definitely don't have acid reflux", but this doctor can tell that I've been more anxious when my mind tells me that I'm less anxious.

I saw a doctor there a couple of years back, with a sore throat, I could hardly talk. She just sat there and said "it's your anxiety". I made another appointment right away and told that doctor that was not good enough, he referred me to a specialist who said that my vocal chords where inflamed and not vibrating properly and put me on Omeprazole for stomach acid.

Now it seems though, now my file says "Health Anxiety" they never have to treat me for anything else again. They gave me a nice leaflet on health anxiety which basically starts by saying I'm wasting my doctors time.



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[Gary A]

So I go to my GP today. For the past few weeks I feel so awful at night. Wake up with a horrid feeling in my chest, up two nights ago with heartburn. Palpitations last night when I sleep on my right side. The palpitations and/or rough chest/heartburn seem to come after eating sweet things or exercising the day before, so maybe I've over tired my heart a little after so much inactivity, squeezed some acid up, or I am very sensitive to sugar. My anxiety has improved a lot over the past few weeks and I have not had a panic attack for the same time.

All I got from my GP was, "it's anxiety", But I've been much less anxious I said, "I don't think you have" said my GP.

Not only can my GP's look inside me and tell me things like, "you definitely have acid reflux" and from another GP, "you definitely don't have acid reflux", but this doctor can tell that I've been more anxious when my mind tells me that I'm less anxious.

I saw a doctor there a couple of years back, with a sore throat, I could hardly talk. She just sat there and said "it's your anxiety". I made another appointment right away and told that doctor that was not good enough, he referred me to a specialist who said that my vocal chords where inflamed and not vibrating properly and put me on Omeprazole for stomach acid.

Now it seems though, now my file says "Health Anxiety" they never have to treat me for anything else again. They gave me a nice leaflet on health anxiety which basically starts by saying I'm wasting my doctors time.



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If you feel that your doctors aren't giving you the care you require then you're absolutely within your rights to request a new one.

Be careful of doctor shopping, though.

Anxiety symptoms don't really wax and wane with your levels of anxiety, it can take many months for the physical manifestations of anxiety to ease to a point of being unnoticeable.

It's entirely possible that your anxiety is making your existing acid reflux worse. The digestive system takes a pounding when you're highly anxious, it may just be that this is an existing condition made worse by your anxiety.

[Fishmanpa]

You present all the symptoms of reflux by your posts and medical professionals have confirmed it. You state that certain foods make it worse. You state that it's this way even when you're not "feeling" anxious.

Well IMO, you do have reflux which means you need to monitor what you eat and when. Sweets will aggravate reflux, fast foods, meats etc. Look into the FODMAP diet and keep a food diary to see what sets it off.

Now... the anxiety.

Anxiety is like a campfire. When you're in the midst of a spiral the fire is burning bright and hot. When the flames die down, there's still a bed of red hot coals burning away just waiting for some more fuel. So you may "feel" you're not anxious but your body is on high alert and has a bed of hot anxiety coals inside just waiting to flare up. Just like a campfire, the hot coals of anxiety take a long time to finally go out.

Treat your anxiety and pay attention to your diet and I bet you'll start to see these symptoms wane.

Positive thoughts

[MyNameIsTerry]

Anxiety symptoms don't really wax and wane with your levels of anxiety, it can take many months for the physical manifestations of anxiety to ease to a point of being unnoticeable.

Mine do. They didn't when I was really bad, but my anxiety was the GAD 24/7 type. I think it will depend on your severity level just how much you experience them.

Higher adrenaline levels mean intensified symptoms, down periods mean less intense symptoms with some going completely. Some of the people on this board find their anxiety goes away for a period of time and then comes back and hits them again.

Mine are related to my med, I believe, but I've found many a sufferer say they have periods worse than others where symptoms reduce, disappear, come back worse, completely new ones, etc.

OP - you've had some conflicting doctors so you are bound to struggle trusting them. Sadly, when it comes to anxiety our GP's are of very varying quality. If you can find one that you feel you can trust, that has shown to taken the best route (as you have shown above with one already), could you try to stick to them as they appear more experienced?